The trend of rising prices continues in Iran as media report that vegetable oil is now being rationed in all chain stores, which has doubled the price of a litre of cooking oil on the open market.
This week the government announced that only four imported food staples are now eligible for foreign-currency subsidies: wheat, barley, corn and soya. That announcement immediately translated into price increases of up to 35 percent for other grocery and food items.
Reports from the Fars News Agency indicate that stores are now seeing long lineups of customers purchasing cooking oil.
The report adds that fruit retailers are now offering their produce at unprecedented prices, which has led to extreme reactions in Parliament.
MP Ahmad Tavakoli was said to be begging Parliament for an immediate solution to the situation, saying: “People can no longer endure the rising prices.”
The Minister of Industry has also been quoted as saying that the fall of oil revenues has led to the high inflation that is affecting the subsistence of households.
Iran is now subject to widespread oil and financial sanctions by the U.S. and the EU, which has severely limited its ability to export oil. The sanctions are aimed at stopping Iran’s alleged ambition to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is peaceful and within its legitimate rights as a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
